Risky Business (11 page)

Jess, likely encouraged by Molly’s softened expression, continued. “Then, Moll, we’d all have great dresses for our pictures and for our dates. We all want to look special, don’t we?”

“What would we tell our parents, though? I mean, won’t they wonder where we got our dresses?” Sara wondered.

“Hmm, good point.” Molly pointed her finger at Sara.

“Well, we could just tell them that we borrowed them,” Jess suggested. “I mean, our parents don’t really talk to each other. You say you borrowed from me, I’ll say I borrowed from Molly…. Get it?”

“Ah! That would work. But what if Molly’s boss sees pictures? And what about Christa?”

“Yeah! That’s true. What if Christa bringsa picture to work?”

“Well, your boss won’t know anything about us. I mean, lots of girls will have dresses from Magna, right? You’ll just have to say you borrowed yours, Molly.” Jess had all of the answers.

“I can’t tell you guys how much guilt I suffered with after the situation with Kim.”
But Kim wasn’t my friend—Sara and Jess are
. “I don’t know. I’m going to have to think about this. Not only could I lose my job, but it’s wrong. There are a lot of lies involved…. But it sure would be nice to have a great dress.” She shook her head.
Why am I considering this?
“I really do want to help you guys out, too. Oh, and I know just the dress for each of us.” Molly sighed, not wanting to even consider it but also afraid of disappointing her friends—plus she truly did want a great dress … and it wasn’t really stealing … or was it?

The time has come to make a decision. Think long and hard about what you would really do if you encountered the exact same circumstances Molly is facing. It’s easy to say you’d make the right choice. But are you sure you could stand up to your friends and disappoint them? What if you truly believed you wouldn’t get caught and that you’d replace the dresses before anyone found out? Would you consider doing it? Are you sure?

Once you make your decision, turn to the corresponding page to see how it turns out for Molly—and for you.

Turn to page 129 if Molly decides to say no to her friends by refusing to “borrow” the dresses
.

Turn to page 159 if Molly decides that she wants a new dress for herself and her friends badly enough to “borrow” them from Magna
.

The next three chapters tell the story of what happened to Molly when she decided to do what she knew was right
.

Sara and Jess were chattering on and on. To Molly their voices sounded like the hum of a fan. Caught up in an internal argument, she wasn’t listening to them. She rubbed the ribbon on her bedspread between her fingers while she contemplated her next move. What should she do? She didn’t want to disappoint them … but she wanted to do the right thing. Still embroiled in her inner struggle, she slowly rose from her perch on the bed and went to the mirror over her dresser. She picked up her hairbrush and began to brush her long blond hair. When she finished, she twisted it and wound it into a knot and then clipped it with a tortoiseshell hair clip.

I want to help my friends—I could just take the dresses for them … okay, for us. But why does

my stomach hurt whenever I think I might? It’s wrong—that’s why! Of course I can’t do it … but I’d like a dress, too. We won’t get caught. No! Don’t be silly. You know you’re not going to do it…
.

Lord, forgive me for even thinking of it. Come to think of it, please forgive me for all of my sins along the way that led me to this point. Please help me be a better example from now on. Amen
.

Jess’s reflection looked at her curiously in the mirror. She watched Molly silently fix her hair. “Hey, what gives, Moll? What’s wrong?”

Molly looked Jess in the eye, knowing what she had to say but not wanting to say it.
I have to tell her
. No matter what, she had to hear it now. “I can’t do it.”

“What do you mean? You want to do it a different way?”

“No, I mean I can’t do it at all.” Molly shook her head and looked away. “I’m not going to steal from work.”

Sara stopped digging in the closet and whipped around to face Molly. “But it wouldn’t be stealing at all. Nothing would happen. It’s almost impossible for you to get caught.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t get caught, but I could. And it’s wrong, not to mention illegal.”

“You’re saying you won’t help us then?” Jess demanded.

“No, I’ll help you in any way that I can. But I can’t help you
this
way.” She threw her hands up in the air. “Look, you guys are welcome to anything I’ve got. You can wear my dresses, you can use any money I have … anything. But I won’t steal for you.”

“Molly.” Jess looked at her pointedly. “You’ve already shared your discount with us, which is against the rules. You’ve also stolen coupons to give to Kim and those girls. You’ve already done illegal things—things that would cost you your job if they got discovered.”

“Are you threatening me?” Molly couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“No no. Not at all. I’m just reminding you that you’re not completely innocent in this whole thing. You’re already in too deep to back out now.” Jess looked at her without blinking.

“No, I’m really not, Jess. No matter how you see my past actions, I’m going no further. I’m out.” Molly stared her down.

“Well, we see how we rank in importance to you. We’re just not popular like Kim and company. We don’t have anything to offer you, so you’re not going to—”

Molly interrupted her. “That’s just ridiculous, and you know it, Jess.”

But Jess continued as though Molly hadn’t spoken. “Oh, and thanks for the tips about the fitting rooms not having cameras and when the best time to ‘borrow’ something would be,” she snidely remarked and then smirked at Sara. “Come on, Sara. We have planning to do.”

Jess and Sara silently gathered their things and left the room before Molly recovered from her shock.

Molly sank onto her bed—stunned, alone. She couldn’t believe that they would threaten her, dangle trouble like that in front of her face, and then use her own words against her. She’d thought they were really her friends.
I guess I was wrong
. She lay back on her bed and grabbed her favorite pillow to squeeze. Her tears mingled on her cheeks like her thoughts jumbled in her mind. Why couldn’t she just go back a couple of months and start over?

“Molly, dinner!” Mom called from downstairs.

Rubbing her eyes, Molly sat up, surprised. How long had she been sleeping? She glanced at the clock.
Two hours?
She rushed down the stairs for dinner, blinking her eyes as she went.

“Hey, sweetie.” Her mom welcomed her and then looked a little closer. “Have you been up there napping? I assumed you were doing homework after the girls left.”

“I guess I did doze off for a little while.” Best not to say how long she’d been out cold, or her mom would think she was sick.

“Well, wake up, sleepyhead, it’s time for dinner.” She smoothed Molly’s hair.

“I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.” Dad rubbed his belly as he entered the kitchen.

Molly rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Let’s feed the cliché king before he gets going with those things.”

Quiet during dinner, Molly was glad her dad had a lot of things going on at work that he wanted to talk about.

Finally, toward the end of the meal, the clinking of the silverware amid the noticeable silence must have become too much for Mom to ignore. “Molly, what’s going on with you tonight?”

“Nothing. Really.”

Her mom wasn’t buying it. She raised her eyebrows and just waited.

“Well, the girls and I just had a little argument. Nothing major. I’m sorry if I’ve been too quiet. Maybe I’m still trying to wake up. I hope I’m not getting sick.” She tried to keep her parents’ attention off the argument.

Mom walked around the table, pushed Molly’s blond hair out of the way, and felt her forehead with the back of her hand. “You might be a little warm, actually. Maybe you should take something and go back to bed.”

Phew
. “Good idea, Mom. I’ll help you clean up, and then I’ll do that.”

“Nope. I’ll help her,” Dad offered. “You skedaddle. We don’t need you feeling under the weather with finals this week.”

“Okay, then. Thanks, Dad. I’m going to get into bed and study until I fall asleep again. I love you guys.”

She walked alone to her classes all the next day. Thankfully she didn’t share any with Jess or Sara.
Weird. Just days ago I wished for the opposite
. Rather than eating lunch conspicuously alone, Molly sat in the library—she wasn’t hungry anyway.

As she entered her last class, she saw her friends for the first time that day. They were at the end of the hall talking to Kim, of all people.
Why her? What could they be talking about?
When they saw her, all three of them started to laugh.
Oh boy
. What had she gotten herself into? And Jess and Sara? Who were they anyway? Not who Molly thought they were, that’s for sure.

After a lonely bus ride, Molly looked ahead through the long parking lot to the mall. She still had a ways to walk. Shivering, she pulled the collar of her jacket up tighter around her neck. Maybe she really was getting sick. But, no, she knew that wasn’t the problem. Her stomach did somersaults as she walked into Magna and headed for the counter.

“Donna, we need to talk.”

Donna looked up from the cash register, where she counted out the bank deposit. She used her hip to slowly push the drawer closed until it clicked, keeping her eyes on Molly. “Okay.” She had a question in her eyes. “Do you want to go to my office?”

Molly nodded, her eyes welling up with tears.

“What’s going on, hon?” Donna sat on the edge of her desk and put her hand on Molly’s shoulder.

Looking at everything in the room except Donna, Molly said, “I have to tell you something, and then you’ll probably fire me.” She couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. Donna reached below her desk to find a tissue. Molly pressed it against her eyes but couldn’t stop the flow.

Donna waited patiently for a minute. Finally her need to know won out over her patient support. “What’s going on, Molly?” Her tone had grown more serious.

Slumped in her seat, hardly looking at Donna at all, Molly spilled the story, leaving out nothing. She told Donna about sharing her discount—but made sure to mention that she did wear all the clothes to work at least twice. She told her about taking the coupons and giving them to her
friends
. She also told her about the scheme they had considered in which they
borrowed
dresses for the Christmas dance.

When she had finished pouring the facts of her story out onto the desk in buckets of tears, she said, “I’m sure I’m fired.” She wiped her eyes and rubbed her temples as relief set in—the worst was behind her.

“I’ve really loved this job, and I really, really appreciate the opportunity.” Molly had nothing left to say, so she collected her purse and jacket and stood to leave.

“Hold on a second, Molly. Slow down. Let’s talk about this.” Donna stood and paced the room for a minute.

Molly timidly sat back down on the edge of her seat, still clutching her purse and jacket in her sweaty fists.

Donna took a deep breath. “Here’s the thing. I share my clothes with my friends, too. Even the ones I buy with my discount. You wore them all to work, so I’d say it’s borderline acceptable, but the fact that you feel bad about it tells me that you understand the intent of the discount is to dress you, not your friends. I appreciate your honesty and your grasp of that situation.”

“Also”—Donna twisted her auburn hair around her finger as she continued to ponder the details out loud—”the plan to borrow the clothes is what brought you here to my office. You didn’t do it. Other girls would have convinced themselves to try it, that it wasn’t really wrong if they brought them back, and that they wouldn’t get caught. Or, at the most, they would have said no and then moved on. I’m not bothered that your friends tried to get you to do it, because your friends aren’t my problem. I respect that you stood up to them and said no. I also respect that you’re telling me about it when you didn’t have to. So those two issues are done and over with as far as I’m concerned.”

Molly could tell that Donna needed to sort through her thoughts, so she just sat quietly,squeezing the straps of her purse.

“The one thing that really bothers me is the coupon thing. I understand that you didn’t quite grasp how it worked when you first took them. At first you thought they were like coupons in the newspaper, free to people for general use. Is that right?”

Molly nodded. It sounded ridiculous even to her, but it was the truth.

“Your so-called friends understood though, which was evident in their shock when you offered them the coupons. Then, once they had them, you felt kind of stuck, even after you figured out how the system worked and that it actually was stealing.”

Molly nodded while Donna continued to work out all the details. She had it all figured out just right. One thing had led to another, and Molly just sank deeper and deeper into the mire. She thought back to the diving board analogy that Pastor Mike had made. After the first bounce, the momentum helped propel her along until the final bounce sank her.